Endangered sea turtles found at seafood wholesale facility

The sea turtles were found alive. – Photo zing.vn Viet Nam News KIÊN GIANG – Sixteen endangered sea turtles weighing nearly 190kg in total were found on Tuesday at Võ Thị Xuân’s seafood wholesale facility in Hòn Thơm District, Phú Quốc Island in the Mekong Delta province of Kiên Giang, online news outlet zing.vn reported. Phú Quốc Sea Conservation Area Management Board, in collaboration with the An Thới Port Border Guard, inspected Xuân’s facility and discovered the turtles. According to Xuân, she bought the turtles to release them, not to trade them. “We made a report to seize these turtles but still let them stay in Xuân’s cage,” said the conversation area’s representative. “Phú Quốc District Police and Procuracy will conduct further investigations.” The captive sea turtles are of a type featured in Việt Nam’s Red book of endangered species. In May, the Nha Trang City’s Court sentenced Hoàng Tuấn Hải four-and-a-half years for smuggling sea turtle. Hải had smuggled over 10 tonnes of sea turtles in late 2014. According to Education for Nature Việt Nam (ENV), it may have been the world’s largest sea turtle smuggling case. – VNS